My friend and I are starting a podcast making fun of our own industry.
It’s what I always wanted.
I designed that logo, FYI.
Podcasts have always been my thing. I’m the one people go to for recommendations. I interned in radio and tried to pitch things to This American Life.
But I never started a podcast. I was too afraid.
I was too afraid to put myself out there, to invest in something that could fail.
I thought I’d have nothing to say.
But a colleague named Sarah and I decided that we wanted to do something to “stand out,” because that’s what you’re supposed to do when your field is crowded. There are a lot of copywriters out there, especially content specialists like me.
So we started a Facebook Live show.
We started the show because we wanted to talk honestly around high-hype industries.
We’ve each felt the pressure to say something was awesome or “the best” even when it looked mediocre or not at all special. Was it really necessary for us to read Flow? Was Girl, Wash Your Face really capable of changing our lives?
Turns out, no. Those were our most hated books of Season 1.
It was a weekly thing, loosely based on the Overdue podcast. Sarah or I would read a book about business, marketing, or self help. Then we’d come and talk about it. The non-reader would ask questions of the other one. Ultimately we’d render a verdict on whether or not the book was actually worth the hype.
In short, we had the conversations we wished would happen in the marketing space.
We reviewed a total of 24 books in our pilot season, 8 of which we felt were universally good even if the reader wasn’t the intended audience.
13 were best for their intended audience, and 3 were absolutely terrible by our standards.
We were liked, especially in professional spaces like LinkedIn. We played with the format and the promotion tools. Memes and characters emerged.
When Facebook killed the reach of shorter Live videos, we had a decision to make. Should we double down or keep going?
We decided to take the leap.
But we had to change the name we’d become known for: Two Bosses Read. We were technically CEOs of our companies, but we didn’t have any employees. It may come across as deceptive.
Plus, we were both sick of how #boss and #girlboss had been highjacked by the MLM community. Not everyone is a boss. That designation was for people who had earned it only.
We didn’t want to unintentionally act exactly like everything we hated in marketing. We didn’t need to act as “bosses.” We were good enough.
So we became You’re Not Helping. And now, we’re moving forward.
It’s real.
It’s happening.
